Three Days of Learning
After this workshop, you’ll have the confidence you need to start your own craft distillery.
Hands-on Instruction & Make Your Own Spirits
Attendees will learn in the 3 Howls Distillery with our instructors for hands-on education you won’t find anywhere else. Students will operate a 3 gallon reflux still and produce their own batch of spirits to take home!
FREE Lifetime Access to Courses & Content
Attendees will also receive a free Lifetime Access membership to DistilleryUniversity.com, meaning you’ll be able to rewatch your workshop as well as all future workshops from anywhere, anytime!
Expert Instructors
This Workshop is taught by real-world experts, ensuring you get the most valuable knowledge available.
Meet Our Presenters
Todd Buckley
Director of Education
Trading in silicon chips for copper stills, Todd Buckley is a technologist turned distiller. He has worked at Intel and Microsoft and has been instrumental in producing award-winning gin and vodka. He is the founder of Destiny Spirits and Lecturer in Social Media and consultant within the spirits industry.
Todd is well-known for the award-winning gin he made at the Bellewood Distillery. In 2014, his hand-crafted spirit scored a 94 from the Beverage Tasting Institute, beating out such notable gins as Beefeater, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire. He’ll be sharing his experiential secrets as well as his technical knowledge in this 3-day Workshop that is not to be missed.
Will Maschmeier
Founder, 3 Howls Distillery
3 Howls founder, Will Maschmeier is an experimenter at heart. His concoctions began in a “mad-scientist” kitchen, complete with beakers of fermenting wort and rows of infused vodkas. Will trained at the Artisan Craft Distilling Institute, volunteered at local distilleries, and fermented anything he could get his hands on. After rounding out his skills with a bartending course, Will found his ultimate laboratory in SODO and has been crafting spirits ever since.
Chris Brownrigg
Owner, Brownrigg Hard Cider
Chris Brownrigg is the owner and cidermaker for Brownrigg Hard Cider. After leaving a job in corporate communications at Boeing Chris has leveraged his 10 plus years of home cider making and his test orchard in West Seattle to craft innovative cider creations. New on the market as of 2017 Brownrigg Hard Cider focuses on local ingredients and seasonal flavors to offer the highest quality hard cider available. Father of two, Chris enjoys time with his kids in the outdoors with the family pug dog Millie.
Syllabus
Industry expert Todd Buckley covers:
- Welcome to the Beverage Alcohol Industry
- History of Distilling in America
- Regulation Highlights to Distill in the US
- The Competitive Landscape of Spirits in the US
- Introduction to Biology: Fermentation
- Grains, Fruits and Yeast
- Yeast Strains
- Introduction to Chemistry: Alcohol
- Ethanol, Methanol, Isopropanol
- Organic Acids
- Ethylene and Ethyl Ether
- Esters
- Filtration
- Vodka distillation
- Properly Using a Hydrometer
- Substrate Choices
- Achieving 190 proof
- Filtration
- Proofing
- Bottling
- Brandy Distillation
- Fruit Choices
- Achieving 160 proof
- Filtration
- Proofing
- Bottling
- Botanicals Blending for Gin
- Botanical Choices
- Maceration, Decoction and Infusion
- Filtration
- Proofing
- Bottling
- Brewing Skill for Whiskey Distillation and Aging
- Substrate Choices
- Fermentation
- Distillation Techniques
- Aging
- Filtration
- Proofing
- Bottling
- Introduction to Physics: Distillation
- Heating, Reflux and Condensation
- Still Design
- Weight, Volume and Temperature
- Welcome to the Beverage Alcohol Industry
The hands-on instruction will take place at the award-winning 3 Howls Distillery. Owner and distilling expert Will Maschmeier will walk us through how to operate his equipment, preparing a mash for fermentation and what considerations need to be made in creating a perfect batch of spirits. Will and Todd will be on hand to answer any and all questions you might have about any aspect of running a distillery.
No other Workshop allows you to actually take control of a professional-grade reflux still and produce your own batch of spirits under the supervision of award-winning distillers.
If you’re looking to get ACTUAL hands-on experience, this is the Workshop for you. We’ll have a mash already made up for you, so all you have to focus on is getting your spirits to come out just right.
After your spirits run is complete, you’ll then be shown how to blend with distilled water in order to get the strength and flavor profile you’re looking for. From there, you’ll bottle your finished spirit and take it home with you!
As a special bonus, local cider expert and owner of Brownrigg Hard Cider Chris Brownrigg will be giving a special presentation on fruit fermentation, which will be essential for anyone looking to produce fruit-based spirits such as brandy.
Topics to be covered in the hands-on portion of the class are:
- Mashing
- Grain choice
- Temperatures
- Fermentation
- Choosing the base product
- Yeast choice
- Vessel choice
- Distillation
- Making the cuts
- Temperature choice
- Equipment design/performance
- Still performance
Friday & Saturday: We’ll all meet at the classroom at 3 Howls at 9am. These days will consist of classroom learning with a lunch at around noon. You’ll also have access to the distillery to see the equipment, layout, etc. Class will conclude at around 5pm (depending on the number of questions).
Later on Saturday (7pm to 9pm), we’re holding a Tasting & Sensory Evaluation Event at a nearby restaurant called Outlier. For a small fee we’ll all be served numerous “short shots” of various spirits and we’ll attempt to sort out the different flavor profiles and distilleries of each. Our lead facilitator Todd Buckley will be on hand to help us determine the different notes and aromas we can experience. Excellent food will also be available there (this event is one of the highlights of all our Workshops, so feel free to bring your spouse or companion).
Sunday: Today is the hands-on portion of the Workshop, so please wear comfortable clothing and closed-toed shoes. We’ll be getting started at 9am. Will Maschmeier, founder of 3 Howls Distillery will be giving us an in-depth tour of the distillery, as well as taking us through his process of making award-winning spirits. Everyone will be able to operate one of our small reflux column stills and take home a bottle of spirits. Sharing the distillery space is Brownrigg Cidery, where the cidermaker will provide cider tastings and answer questions regarding fermentation and other distilling-related topics.
We’ll close class between 3pm and 5pm, depending on what’s going on in the distillery and how many questions people have.
Tuition
20% off for early registration!- Workshop dates (three separate sessions): January 31-February 2 | March 13-15 | April 24-26
- Reserved spot for all 3 days
- Includes a free Lifetime Access membership to DistilleryUniversity.com online courses (including all footage from this Workshop – $499 value!)
- All attendees are entered to win a FREE 3-gallon reflux still ($500 value!)
- Includes supplemental materials
- Includes invitations to any After-Hours Events throughout the weekend
- Your future distillery will be featured prominently on the Alumnus Directory
- Early Registration discount ends 30 days before each Workshop
Early Registration Discount
Register at least 30 days before a Workshop and receive the discounted rate of $1899. After the discount closes, registration increases to $2375.
Questions?
Just call (509) 999-1244 or email info@distilleryuniversity.com. We’ll be happy to provide you with any information you need.
Bringing a friend?
Email us at info@distilleryuniversity.com to receive 20% off a second seat at our workshop!
There are numerous other hotels in the immediate area that are available. We recommend using Booking.com to find your hotel, or use AirBNB.com.
We understand that sometimes things come up unexpectedly, and we will work with you in the event of a cancellation.
All registrations cancelled at least 60 days before a Workshop will be refunded in full. Cancellations after that date will be refunded 50%. Unfortunately, we cannot accept cancellations less than 30 days before a Workshop.
Thank you for your understanding.
Downtown Seattle is Washington’s hub for top-quality restaurants and entertainment. Within blocks of the distillery you’ll find a wide range of food offerings, bars, even a speakeasy or two. There are numerous theaters, places to shop, and more. Click here to visit the Seattle tourism website.
Proudly display your dedication to your distilling education with an official certificate of membership from Distillery University. At the conclusion of the workshop, every attendee receives a certificate to put on the wall of their future distillery.
